It’s that time of year, again. The Easter Bunny has come and gone, leaving tons (literally tons) of plastic eggs behind. Rather than throwing the plastic eggs away to inevitably end up in a landfill or in the stomach of a bird or critter, let’s yoga-fy the eggs with some simple crafts and games!

• Mindful Sound Matching: Take a dozen plastic eggs and separate them into pairs. In each pair, put a spoonful of something that will make a unique sound when the egg is shaken, like rice, raw beans, paperclips, pennies, etc. Then seal the eggs with glue so they don’t accidently split and spill. To play, mix the pairs up and give each egg a shake to mindfully listen to the sound. Try to find the matching sounds.
• Affirmation Eggs: On the smaller end of the plastic egg, write the words, “I am”. Then on the larger side, write a list of positive words around the egg. Words like strong, happy, kind, brave, and smart. Put the 2 halves of the egg together and spin them so different affirmations are created, like “I am brave” or “I am kind”. This activity would be a lovely way to start the day, with a child heading out into their world with a good feeling.
• Egg Shell Stacking: To practice focus and eye-hand-coordination, simply see how high you can stack the eggshells, nesting one inside the other.
• Egg Concentration: Take four plastic eggs and separate them into their halves. Place pairs of matching objects under the shells, like 2 identical pompoms, 2 buttons, 2 Legos, and 2 balls. Then mix up the shells so you can’t remember which object was where. Take turns turning over 2 shells, trying to find a match. Be mindful as to where the different objects are hidden so you can find a match quickly.
• Emotional Eggs: Separate eggs into their halves. On the larger half, draw eyes and a nose. On the smaller half, draw different mouths to show various emotions, like smiles, frowns, open mouths, kissy lips, etc. Kids can then put together faces that match their emotion. Or ask them questions like, “How would you feel if ________?” and then see what emotion egg they create. Take it further by matching the Emotion Egg with a breathing practice. For example, if they create an angry faced egg, have the kids practice breaths that increase the length of the exhale (because it is relaxing). Or if they made a frightened egg, they could practice Bunny Breath to help them work through their fear.
• Toega Sorting: Using empty egg cartons, place plastic egg halves in each hole. Try to use as many different colors as you can. Then play Toega and have the kids place the pompoms they pick up with their toes into the matching colored egg half. This takes patience and very steady toes!

• Like what you read here? There’s so much MORE to explore and learn with Kidding Around Yoga. Check out our website for our live and online teacher trainings, Yoga Alliance-approved 95-hour RCYT trainings, specialty online courses, original music, merchandise, podcast, and beyond! KAY even offers a 6-hour workshop designed to teach school educators and homeschool families how to bring yoga and meditation right into their classrooms (EduKAY).